Source: Realtor —
Realtor.com®’s March housing data release reveals that the one-two-punch of rising interest rates and all-time high listing prices has moderated demand for homes. A decline in the churn of listings, consistent with recent slow-downs as reported for new and existing home sales, has led to slight inventory improvements despite a lack of growth in newly listed homes. While the median listing price has reached a new all-time high, a greater share of listings are seeing price reductions as sellers adjust to a moderation in buyer demand. This spring’s homebuying season is expected to be less competitive than last year, however activity is still elevated compared to other recent years.
Inventory May See Growth by Summertime
Nationally, the inventory of homes actively for sale on a typical day in March decreased by 18.9% over the past year, a smaller rate of decline compared to the 24.5% drop in February. This amounted to 89,000 fewer homes actively for sale on a typical day in March compared to the previous year. The total number of unsold homes nationwide—a metric that includes active listings and listings in various stages of the selling process that are not yet sold—is down 12.2% percent from March 2021. This is also a smaller rate of decline compared to last month’s 15.3% decline. If current trends persist, we may see active and total listings grow over last year by June or July.
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